Amur Leopard
By Analise Silva
The Amur Leopard Recovery Plan: Strategy for the Bilateral Conservation of the Far East Russia leopard
Plan Date: November 3, 2012
Listing Date: February 15, 1996
Location: Far Eastern Russia, China
Listed as: Critically Endangered
Plan Status: Final
Description & Ecology
The Amur Leopard has several distinguished characteristics that set it apart from other subspecies in its family. Its light-colored winter coat, which reaches a length of about 7 centimeters, is replaced with a more red-colored coat of a length of about 2.5 centimeters in the summer. Their most distinguishing feature however, is its spread-out rosettes with thick boarders, which is what sets the Amur apart from its fellow leopard subspecies.
Adult males can weigh anywhere from 32-75 kg, while females typically weigh 25-43 kg. The Amur leopard has high environmental tolerance, and therefore can experience a wide range of temperatures and climates. Its preference however, is a temperate forest habitat, or anywhere mild that provides sufficient food and cover. In the wild, the Amur will obtain sexual maturity at age 3, and live 10-15 years. When bred in captivity, their lifespan is closer to 20 years. They tend to breed in spring and early summer. As a K-species, their litters range from 1-4 cubs, who leave their mothers at 1-2 years. Amur leopards are nocturnal and solitary animals, meaning they tend to not spend time with others of their own species. However, some males will stay with females after breeding and sometimes, though rarely, help to rear the young. Their main prey species are roe deer and sika deer, small wild boars, along with hares, badgers and raccoon dogs, and a loss of prey is one of the main reasons the Amur Leopard is considered critically endangered.
Geographic & Population Changes
In the Jilin province of China, the number of leopards and their area of habitation has been steadily shrinking over the past 20 years. Only a few leopards still live in the southern part of Heilongjiang province and the total leopard population in China has declined 70% since 1960. The leopard that once densely inhabited China can now only be found in isolated mountainous regions along the border of Russia. There is only an estimated 3-5 individuals still living in Heilongjiang province, while no individuals were found in North Korea. The 12,000 square kilometers mountainous-forest region of Russia (Primorsky Krai) holds the only survivable population currently known, which is compromised of only 42-50 individuals. At the end of the nineteenth century the habitat of the Amur Leopard began to shrink due to economic exploitation of the forest of the Prikhankaiskaya plain. The leopard population was forced to split into two groups: those that inhabited the southern Sikhote-Alin and those that inhabited the eastern Manchurain mountain range. However, in 1972, a census confirmed a population of 6 individuals migrating across the Russo-Chinese border. The last remaining viable wild population, estimated at 57 individuals, is found in a small area in the Russian Province of Primorsky Krai, between Vladivostok and the Chinese border.
Main Threats
1. Habitat Loss & Fragmentation – An estimated 80% of the Amur Leopard's habitat was lost between 1970-1983 due to indiscriminate logging, forest fires and land conversion for farming purposes.
2. Prey Scarcity – The current populations of the Amur Leopard's main prey, the roe deer and the sika deer, are suffering and is therefore an insufficient source for the leopard subspecies. These prey populations must repopulate if the Amur Leopard has any hope for long term survival. This creates small populations and makes the leopards vulnerable to natural disasters and disease that may sweep the population at any time. This low density has led to father-daughter breeding as well as sibling mating, and have resulted in lost fitness and fertility.
3. Conflict with Humans – Farmers in Russia have been consuming the deer population (the Amur Leopard's main prey) by raising them for human consumption and selling antlers to the Chinese medicinal market.
4. Illegal Poaching & Trade – The Amur's fur is world-renowned for its beautiful pattern and texture, and therefore provides a very profitable market for those who wish to illegally poach the animals. Not only for commercial trade, where fur can go for $1,200 respectively, but the villages surrounding the forests in which the Amur populations inhabit take pride in collecting the fur of leopards that invade their communities.
Recovery Plan
Both the Russian and Chinese governments have placed bans on poaching and hunting, making them illegal. If caught poaching, hunters are fined based on the size and street value of the animal killed. Hunting laws are an instrumental part of the bilateral recovery plan put in place by far east Russia. Mainly Russian conservationists have also captured and are now breeding more than 20 individuals in efforts of increasing healthy, non inbred individuals. In 1996 a ban on trapping live animals was placed and included in the Red List of IUCN and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In 1979, an area learned to be called Barsovy Zakaznik was created at a federal level for the protection of the Amur Leopard, where all hunting and economic activity is prohibited. As of 1995, an executive Russian government group issued a decree of additional protection for the leopards, making adoption and financial support available to the international public. However, according to a Russian government official, "the existing measures are low and completely insufficient to guarantee survival of the leopard." It will soon happen, as a last resort, that leopards in captivity will be used to supplement new populations ad reintroduce the leopards into the places they used to live. At the present, there are 195 Far Eastern leopards in 60 different zoos and private collections, made up of 104 females and 91 males, which have all come 10 funding members that were trapped in the wild and forced to breed in captivity. These individuals have a more stable and genetically pure genotype. Scientists working with the population have maintained more pure-blooded individuals, therefore increasing fitness among the entire population. The Russian population has been deemed stable over the past few decades, however a new wave of economic development of the region may be a call for emergency measures to protect the remaining leopards.
How You Can Help
Adopt a Leopard! https://gifts.worldwildlife.org/gift-center/Default.aspx
Sources
https://sites.google.com/a/jeffcoschools.us/amur-leopard-species-survival/home/species-survival-recovery-plan
Very interesting blog! The Canada Lynx is also very threatened by logging and prey scarcity. They are very reliant on hares just as these leopards are very reliant on deer.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Tomer
DeleteIt is very fascinating to see the steps being taken by other countries to protect species, as we largely focused on the US and measures being taken there. The fact that not only the leopards themselves but their prey are also at risk to parts being sold for human consumption is interesting as well -Sophie Topping Zimmerman
ReplyDeleteHey! Great job. What really stood out to me was that photo of the leopard pelt being stretched out on that table. It really honestly made me sick. This is something that really needs to be stopped to help these amazing creatures. - Grantland Tracy
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I liked the format of your blog and how easy it was to read. It's so sad that these animals are caught up in illegal poaching. People should appreciate their fur without causing them harm. -Alyssa Slattery
ReplyDeleteIt's unique to see that the limitation of prey is contributing the decline of the species in addition to habitat loss. In other struggling predator species you often see their prey thrive as their population suffers. - Amy Sublett
ReplyDelete